How old is too old for a bedtime story?

[Yabbers]

We had a discussion at work about bedtime stories. My colleagues who have children the same age as mine say they stopped bedtime stories a few years ago. DD is 9 and loves me reading to her before bed (and I love it too) Occasionally if bedtime is late we don’t do one, but she really hates not getting one.

My colleagues say she is too old, but in my view if it’s something we both enjoy I’ll do it as long as she asks.

How old were yours when you stopped, is anyone still reading to older children at bedtime?

I mean lots of adults use audio books to fall asleep so I don't really know if there is truly such a too old for a bedtime story to be honest.

I babysit for two girls, the eldest was 13 in October. She loves to be read a book every night and long may it continue.

Dd1 wanted to stop bedtime stories when she decided she'd rather read to herself because then she'd got through the book quicker, so about 7 ish. I was happy with that because at that age she was deeply obsessed with rainbow fairies and other similar books.

Dd2 is almost 9 and still loves bedtime stories every night. She chooses books that she wants to read but doesn't yet have the ability for. So at the minute we're reading a set of pony books which have some very challenging vocabulary in them. She reads a chapter, asking how to pronounce words/what words mean when she gets to them, then I read a chapter and she asks lots of questions about meanings etc. Then I quiz her on what happened in those chapters. She loves it and it's excellent for her vocabulary and comprehension.

I'd say keep reading to her as long as she'll let you. It's great bonding time and really good for their education (without them noticing really).

Mine was probably about 6, afterwards with long prose books, he wanted to read on his own... then come and snuggle with me.

I'm with BillywigSting...there is no such thing as being too old. I'm nearly 70, and since DH and I got together 20 years ago, he used to read to me in bed every night in his lovely Welsh cadences. Now, though, we listen to podcasts instead. I was certainly still reading to my own DC up into their early teens.

Mine is nearly 12 and still loves being read to every night, although he reads on his own afterwards.

Ds1 was about 8 but then I had two younger children and the by time I'd read them each, I was more than happy for ds1 to read himself

I read to my 9yo pretty much every night. I sometimes find my 13yo comes in to listen, too. They’ll let you know when they don’t want you to anymore.

No such thing!! As long as they want to be read to then I'll be reading to them!

Talking of which, would someone like to read me a story? I’m not sure “that’s not my puppy” is quite cutting it this evening!

Not such thing as too old! At 34 and buckled by HG my DH would read to me at night to distract me when even opening my eyes would make me vomit!

Totally depends on the child. I have twins, one of them has been reading on her own (and prefers it that way) since she was about 7, the other still loves me reading to her aged 9. In fact today we had a bit of a win in that the two of us read a really good book together, from start to finish - finishing today. It has been a real hurdle to find a book that she loves reading and that she'll want to read to the end - and this was the first fairly 'grown up' one. She's so pleased with herself.

I think at the point they prefer reading alone is the time to stop - which is probably a lot to do with how fast they read and the fact that eventually it just becomes a bit frustrating reading with someone if you want to get on and turn the page quickly to see what happens!

Mine are both too impatient for a chapter a night since they've got confident reading so want to sit and read themselves on an evening aged 6 and 7. They do still like a Cbeebies radio podcast though so we tend to lie and cuddle and listen to one of those after they've read a bit and turned the lights out.

DD1 in particular gets frustrated not being able to dictate the pace she goes through a story at - she's a fast reader like me - so even listening to a storytime at school she then wants to get the book at home and read ahead to know what happens at the end.

Never is too old, I read to my dead relatives at times.

No such thing as "too old". When I was a nurse I used to work with teenagers on a mental health ward. One of my fondest memories of that job is reading to them at bedtime on my Nightshifts. They all loved it, even the 17 year olds.

My 11 and 9 year old still like to snuggle into my bed to read every night. The 11 year old often reads his own thing though. Sometimes we read together and sometimes individually.
The 17 year old often gets in too if she's about. We go at each end of the bed like Charlie Bucket's grandparents.

Never! Although I might be encouraging them to read it out loud to you. Still a bedtime story but they're practicing their reading skills. 😊

I don't think there is anything as too old either, but what I did do was buy audio CD's and cassettes that grew up with her. Stories like the greek gods etc and she would play them while in the bath. Very informative in a story telling way.

There's a pretty big age gap between me and my youngest siblings and one of the joys of coming home from uni was we'd all get ready for bed and then mum or my step dad would read Harry Potter. Theres something special about being read too.

So yeah when the child doesnf want too even then its nuce ocassionally to share a book

Ds (16) has autism and often struggles to switch off. He's doing A Christmas Carol for GCSE but he's a bit of a reluctant reader. So I said if he hurried up into bed I'd read it to him. I soon realised after I'd been reading for a while he'd gone quiet and fallen asleep. (And I was doing the voices and everything!!) Win win I'd say!! We keep having to go back a bit!! At last though I know a bit more than Marley was dead!! About to getting the jolly end bit and I've really enjoyed the time with him. The dog snuggles in too 🙂

Just an extra thought: when I taught English I would read aloud to the kids fairly frequently and they always loved it, no matter what age. It’s an ancient human instinct to listen to and learn from stories.

I think I was about 8. By then I was reading fairly grown up books independently, and with siblings 2 and 4 years younger, it was easier for my mum to select a book for those two.

In the last year I have got back into reading nightly to my almost 7yo. He went through a stage of only selecting NonFiction. Great for him but hugely tedious for me! Now we are reading a few chapters of a fiction book a night and he reads me a chapter of his storybook too. After 2-3 picture books with his brother, bedtime can take forever but it's worth it.